Central Drops To 2-11 With Loss To Hofstra

NEW BRITAIN — The Central Connecticut men basketball team fell to 2-11 overall with an 84-56 loss at home to Hofstra in the final non-conference game of the season. Hofstra improves to 9-4 with the victory. Senior Faronte Drakeford led the Blue Devils with 20 points and eight rebounds in the game. Drakeford matched his season-high and was 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. He was 7-of-19 from the field and added three assists. Sophomore Matt Mobley finished with 16 points and hit a pair of threes. Junior Brandon Peel added six points and eight rebounds. Junior Borey Barrett had six points and six rebounds in the loss. The Pride led 47-25 at halftime and by as many as 25 in the first half after shooting 19-of-35 from the field and 9-of-19 from three. Central struggled from the field making just 10-of-31 and 1-of-8 from three in the half. Drakeford led Central with 10 points but played only 11 minutes after picking up his second foul. Seven Hofstra players scored before halftime, led by 11 points from Dion Nesmith. Four players had eight or more points in the period and five hit from three. They had 11 assists on 19 baskets. The Blue Devils had 11 turnovers that led to 15 Hofstra points. The Blue Devils will begin their 18-game Northeast Conference schedule at home on Saturday vs. Fairleigh Dickinson at 3:30 p.m.

Trinity 78, Berkeley College 63: Junior guard Jaquann Starks of Hartford scored a game-high 24 points to lead Trinity to a 78-63 victory over the visiting Berkeley College in the Trinity College Holiday Men's Basketball Invitational Finals Wednesday afternoon. Trinity improves to 9-2 and takes the Holiday Invitational crown for the first time since 2011. Berkeley drops to 7-3 with its first loss in seven games.

Eastern Connecticut 87, Messiah 80: Junior guard Trachone Preston of Enfield reached 1,000 career points early in the game, then scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half to lead Eastern. Preston became the 30th player in program history to reach 1,000 points when he sank the second of two free throws 5:25 into the game. His 27 points tied a career-high. Eastern is 9-2. The point total was the highest allowed this year by Messiah (7-4), which had won its third straight game Tuesday, 85-82, over UMass Dartmouth of the Little East Conference. Eastern ended a streak of five straight losses in Florida over three years – including a 72-71 overtime setback to Messiah in the same gym two years ago.

Women's Basketball

Conn College 74, College of Staten Island 68: Freshman forward Mairead Hynes had 29 points and 16 rebounds for Conn College in the consolation game of the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic hosted at Springfield College. Hynes was 13 of 17 on free throws en route to her fifth double-double of the season, breaking both marks in the final minutes of the contest. With the win, the Camels improve to 8-2 on the year, while the Dolphins fall to 4-7 overall. Connecticut College shot 23-for-64 (35.9%) on the day, while Staten Island was 27-for-67 (40.3%) from the field in the contest.